POTD Yay! It’s back again

Title : “Colors”

Poet: Shel Silverstein

Response: What color are you feeling inside today? Why?

“Colors” by Shel Silverstein

My skin is kind of sort of brownish Pinkish yellowish white. My eyes are grayish blueish green, But I’m told they look orange in the night. My hair is reddish blondish brown, But it’s silver when it’s wet. And all the colors I am inside Have not been invented yet.

Personal Memoir Writer’s Workshop Day 5

Reading as Writers

Today’s Goals To use active reading strategies in order to

comprehend the excerpt from the text Little by Little: A Writer’s Education by Jean Little.

To compare the text to the characteristics of personal narratives and memoirs to determine if it is an appropriate mentor text for our class’s memoir writing.

To notice what choices the writer makes to engage her reader in order to model those choices in our own writing.

Previewing Reading Pages 51-53 ( “Well, I was all ready...” to “Take your seat”

Jean Little “explodes a moment” by telling her elaborate lie about the dying girl. What sensory details does she include in this story-within-the-story to keep her classmates so interested in her tale? Record at least three below with the page #.

Record at least 4 vivid verbs below that Jean Little uses in her story. Include the page #.

Record a piece of dialogue that Jean Little uses that you particularly liked. Include the page #.

During Reading: 15 min

You will read today’s section INDEPENDENTLY

By the end of your reading today, you need to have 6-9 active reading strategy annotations on your notebook paper

You need to answer questions 4-6 on the BACK of the WS

If you finish before the timer stops, work on your memoir draft

Grammar Review Which of the following are correct, parallel sentences?

A. I opened the door, said a private prayer for help, and entered the grade five classroom.

B. I knew I should not go back to answer it, but you know my mother and father are both doctors, and I was afraid it might be an emergency.

C. I had to get to shore, go home and bandage my knee and put on dry clothes.

Mentor Structure Paragraphs divided sequentially

When I reached the street... As I passed St. John’s school... Then I stood stock still...

Vary your sentences Some sentences should be long and others short. Some sentences should begin differently. Some sentences should start with a part of

speech other than a noun or pronoun.

MiddleYour story needs to build to something exciting, the climax.

Write about a simple conflict, a task that must be completed, a question that must be answered, or a barrier that must be overcome.

Rising Action

Climax

Beginning

Resolution

Middle

Include Actions Dialogue Sensory Details Thoughts and Feelings Suspense (Remember to build to a

climax.)

WW goal and checklist Goal: Draft parts of your rising action; divide ideas into paragraphs

Indented paragraphs

First person POV

Past tense language

Chronological order

Parallel sentence

Conflict

Dialogue

Sensory Details

Closure

On your exit ticket, write the CONFLICT, CLIMAX, and RESOLUTION of your memoir

HW reminder: Answer Comprehension questions 4-6

Mentor Grammar Parallelism (Add these notes to your writing/literary terms section

on pg. 10)

Observe: “I was gobbling toast and honey, gulping down milk, and hating my cheerful little sister who was the cause of all the trouble...”

In my free time I like to read, skate, and watch TV.

X On Friday I went to the mall, bought a bag, and I was taking my puppy to the park. How would I fix this?

Note: The repetition of similar grammatical structures in a sentence

Imitate: Use parallelism to connect ideas into a series in one sentence.

Topic Consideration Questions

Can I write descriptively about the topic? (your recollection of the sensory details does not have to be 100% accurate)

Is there a place for dialogue?

Is there something more to the story than just talking about an interesting or fun or exciting moment in my life?

In addition to answering these questions, I mentally reviewed my Writing Territories, the places I’ve traveled, Penn State stories, losing grandparents, and things that make me happy

Choosing My Topic: What Should I Write?

Penn State memories

Ice skating class

Learning how to shoot the duck

Final Performance (hard work, practice, pride, accomplishment, realizing childhood

dream)

Option A

Option B